This invention relates to collapsible overhead enclosures or shelter, and particularly to collapsible enclosures or shelters for swimming pools, or to serve as garages, airplane hangars, storage sheds, or the like.
Heretofore, enclosures have been provided for outdoor swimming pools to render them usable in cold weather. Attention has been directed to constructing enclosures for such purposes which are easy to erect and take down, and which are inexpensive to produce. To this end, a popular pool enclosure has been a flexible plastic shell supported by pumped air. A disadvantage has been that in colder environments the pumping of cold ambient air into the warm, moist pool region produces vapor and condensation which has been objectionable.
Likewise, such structures have not always been suitable to be partially opened, such as for access or ventilation, since an air seal is required to maintain them in an erect condition, unless support air is pumped in relatively large quantities at great rates.
The present invention provides a lightweight, economical collapsible enclosure structure particularly suitable for outdoor swimming pools but also suitable for numerous other enclosure or shelter purposes.
The present invention has the further advantage that it collapses into a compact, unobtrusive unit when not in use.